AboutMark Behar Expertise Almost any question or concern about sexually transmitted infections, abnormal Pap smears, anal cytology (anal "Pap smears"), gay men's health issues.
There is no such thing as “d/d free” or “clean” (free of infection), so why do so many of us deceive ourselves into thinking that some people are indeed totally free from a potentially infectious disease, like HIV, herpes, hepatitis, syphilis, chlamydia, warts, gonorrhea, etc., just because they say so? Clinical laboratory tests are not perfect, and having a “negative” or “nonreactive” test does not mean that a person is free from infection. Perhaps at the moment the test was taken, the person was uninfected; or, perhaps, the test wasn’t sensitive enough to detect presence of the infection. There is really no way that anyone can determine that they are truly “disease free,” and there are over a hundred of infectious conditions that can be spread without your knowing anything.
Rather than trying to “prescreen” or “serosort” a potential sex-mate with deceptive questions that are impossible to know by today’s technologies, a wiser option may be to consider everyone infected with something, and either use appropriate protective measures (“safer sex”), or accept the responsibility and conseqences of possibly “catching” something from someone who’s hotter than expected (pun intended!).
There is much research that supports the contention that an HIV positive person reliably taking HIV medications, and having an undetectable viral load, presents a lower risk for transmission of HIV than people who may think or say they are HIV negative, but are not. Food for thought!
Experience Family Practice PA since 1981;
Volunteer Clinician for Brady East STD (BESTD) Clinic, Milwaukee, since 1977; answer STD questions submitted to their web site.
Professionally lectured at national and regional Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner conferences, and at national gay & lesbian health conferences on topics including HIV/AIDS, herpes, hepatitis, STDs, human papilloma virus (the cause of venereal warts), abnormal Pap smears, gay and lesbian health issues, among others.
Organizations Co-Founder, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Gay Physician Assistant Caucus of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, Inc.;
Wisconsin Academy of Physician Assistants;
American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP); Board of Directors, National Association of Black and White Men Together: A Gay, Multiracial Organization for All People (NABWMT)
Publications Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (JAPA)
Education/Credentials Physician Assistant Certified, since 1982;
Masters in Physician Assistant Studies;
Colposcopy Recognition Award, American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP);
Awards and Honors Colposcopy Recognition Award (CRA), from the American Association of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology;
Distinguished Fellow, American Academy of Physician Assistants;
Fellow, Wisconsin Academy of Physician Assistants
Past/Present Clients Brady East STD Clinic, Milwaukee, WI
Question this is a very odd situation, because i have been married for a year and a half now and my wife and i have been monogamous well i was at work the other day and needed to use the restroom well i normally never sit on public toilets and specially the ones at my job i don't think they have been cleaned... non the less i got a bottle of lysol and tried cleaning it put paper on top of it and sat down now i remember when i was finished my penis touched the edge closest to it and i cleaned the head of my penis. Now i know some men do some weird inappropriate things in there. Well 2 or 3 days later i noticed a couple of red dots on the head they are tiny but very red and it has progressed to a white dot small as well and looked like little tiny volcanos they are very small though, but are starting to clear out... now when i was younger i use to get red dots but never turned white and std tests always came out negative in every aspect except hpv warts my wife and i know we have warts but i never had warts in the head, could this be a possibility of warts spreading or herpes? and is there possible to get an std transmitted through toilet seats? even when i know men masturbate there!!
thanks dani
Houston TX U.S.
Answer Hi Dani,
It is NOT likely that the bumps you have are due to warts (human papillomavirus) or herpes. The red dots you have noted may be due to excessive rubbing or some other minor irritation, that should clear up in a few days. Most STD germs are very susceptible to air drying. You not only used Lysol to clean the toilet seat, but you also covered the seat! Although your penis may have momentarily bumped into the porcelain rim, this is not sufficient contact for you to get anything. What caused the white dots %26 tiny volcano bumps? Probably some skin germs on the skin that go away by themselves. Nothing to worry about!
Theoretically, it is possible to "catch something" from a toilet seat, but in reality, it is very, very unlikely.
